Quick cuts or long-term strategy? It's your election choice

The Nats are promising to cut elective surgery waiting times from six to four months and boost the number of operations by 4000 and increase med school places.

Labour would develop "nationwide tools for elective surgery prioritisation based around timelines, equity and quality". Hmm, concrete promises with dates, times and numbers attached, or long-term strategies, principles and vision? What'll it be, voters?

We're used to opposition parties criticising the Government for failing to act on issues, but this week even Finance Minister Bill English admitted a clampdown on loan sharks was overdue.

In promising to overhaul consumer credit laws, the Government had reformed much of the financial sector during the past three years but loan sharks remained largely unregulated and able to exploit vulnerable people causing severe financial hardship and spiralling debt. "This is not acceptable." Yep, that's what Labour's consumer affairs spokeswoman Carol Beaumont has been saying.